Mexican Senator’s New Bill Backs The Right To Bear Arms

Jorge Luis Preciado, a senator from Mexico’s conservative National Action Party (PAN), believes most Mexicans don’t trust the authorities—and therefore won’t report crimes. So he’s offering a solution by backing a measure to allow possession of firearms inside businesses and vehicles. That means bus and cab drivers, truckers and all transport professionals could carry a gun to protect themselves, their passengers and their possessions.

Preciado told Fushion.net, “The Mexican Constitution already allows citizens to possess certain firearms inside their homes, and we simply want to extend that right to other places.” He added, “We are in the midst of a very complex situation and we are simply arguing that if the State cannot protect us, then it should at least allow us to defend ourselves.”

The legislation has been condemned by most Mexican politicians, including Preciado’s own party leadership. However, Preciado believes, “Those who have criticized the initiative are arguing in extremes.”

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics clearly states journalists should:

Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.

Provide context.

Gather, update and correct information.

Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.

Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism.

Label advocacy and commentary.

Newsweek.com allowed “The Trace” to label itself as “an independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to expanding coverage of guns”—a mischaracterization obvious to anyone who has ever read the stories there. Is it any wonder Americans have lost their trust in media?

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire head of Facebook, posted a 30-minute video starring himself on his social media network this week in which he shows himself barbecuing wild game and noting that “things taste doubly better when you’ve hunted the animal yourself,” OutdoorHub reports.

Zuckerberg has said he’s hunted for four or five years now—indeed, in 2011 he shot a bison and proclaimed, "The only meat I'm eating is from animals I've killed myself."

Maine Wardens Opposing Question 3

The Maine Warden Service is speaking out against Question 3, the punitive Bloomberg-supported ballot initiative that would drastically expand background checks for virtually all private sales, loans or transfers of firearms.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Warden Service expressed worry that the law would make criminals out of responsible firearm owners and would be impossible to enforce. According to the Portland Press Herald, the wardens are particularly alarmed about requirements that people would have to get a background check before loaning a gun to someone else, a common practice among hunters.

“The Warden Service also has concerns about the enforcement of Question 3,” the statement said. “It would be difficult for a law enforcement officer to prove actual ownership and where the transfer occurred unless the transfer was actually observed by the officer. A routine interaction with a hunter would not generate that line of questioning unless there was reasonable suspicion that an illegal transfer had taken place.”

Chicago: Armed Citizen Breaks Up Bathroom Brawl

Witnesses say a busy Chicago bar was evacuated after a fight broke out in the men’s room and an armed citizen intervened.

Just after 10 p.m. Sunday night, a 29-year-old patron of the Bottled Blonde bar and pizzeria was in the restroom when he and another man were involved in an altercation. After the second man punched the 29-year-old patron in the face, a good Samaritan—who was also in the men’s room at the time—pulled out his legally carried firearm and ordered the two men to break it up.

According to police, no shots were fired, and there were no injuries beyond those caused by the initial punch. The investigation is ongoing, but no charges have been filed against the armed citizen.